Quest for the Lost Civilization

Awe inspiring and enigmatic, the sacred sites and holy places of ancient man have stood mute for millennia - their secrets seemingly vanished with the civilizations that built them. Yet what mysteries would they reveal if they could speak? Is there something that connects these sites - a hidden key that will once and for all disclose the riddles of our past? What is the startling archaic connection entwining the sacred places of our world?

Evading the interpretation of generations of historians and archaeologists the true cryptic nature and purpose of these sacred centres has lain in waiting - secreted in myth and legend and encoded in the very design of the sites themselves...Until now.

In Heaven's Mirror best-selling author Graham Hancock continues his quest begun in the No. 1 International best-sellers Fingerprints of the Gods and Keeper of Genesis to rediscover the hidden legacy of mankind - the revelation that the cultures we term ancient were, in fact, the heirs to a far, far older forgotten civilisation, and inheritors of its archaic wisdom... (More at grahamhancock.com)

Agree with some of the comments earlier. This guy has an irritating voice. He is a snake-oil salesman, yes J, I agree with you. Don't like documentaries where the speaker likes to put himself (and partner) in every shot. His inflated, obsessional assumptions and personal ownership of other's theories made him appear a novice. Did not wast time watching it to the end. The monuments were awesome. Shame he got in the way.

What Hancock says makes perfect sense. Read Ignatious Donnelly, too. I don't think we should discount any possibility. It's ridiculous to think modern humans have lived for 200,000 years (as per current fossil record) and yet only did all our discovery in the last few thousand!

There is a growing consensus out there that believes that some of the history that we were taught in school is not entirely accurate and of course it's not. Hell we can't even agree on the events of 9/11. So how can we form an accurate picture of what happened thousands of years ago based on the limited amount of data gathered from digs and the written language. The further away from and event in both time and space the less accurate the recounting of that event will inevitably be.

I don't think it's insane for Hancock and others to form their own theories about the roots of civilization and the possibility of a missing chapter or chapters in our remote past. Every side will fight hard to maintain their own views of the events of what happened long and most research is based on previous studies and built on them as well. Therefore if an error is made at the beginning and all that follows is based on that error than the pictures painted of the past will be highly inaccurate and historians do not want to discard decades upon decades on systemically building a historical picture even if other scientific evidence says "Something here just ain't right!" (The water weathering on the Sphinx for example but there is geological dating of other areas that strongly dispute the historians dates)

The best thing to do if you are sincerely interested in finding out about the past is research, watch, and most importantly THINK! Even a show like ancient aliens that is very biased towards pointing all evidence towards "The Aliens Did It!" can show some interesting locations and artifacts that raise questions. Not saying that I agree with the answers but I also don't agree with conventional history either. I'm quite convinced that the further back you go the less accurate it is. Just look at some of the cities in India under water that date back to a time when we shouldn't have even had the wheel yet!

The name calling on some of the previous posts are unnecessary. If you don't believe that history is inaccurate than don't believe it but don't bash the **** out of others for feeling the same and that applies to those with the alternative view as well. The best way to go about it is to gather evidence and use facts and well reasoned theories to argue your case. This way we have scientific progress and maybe we can get closer to and unarguably accurate account of our pre-history through baby steps
.

very interesting- he might turn you off if you are not ready.
i watched a youtube vid of Graham Hancock and Joe Rogan, one of Joe's podcasts, and got to know the angle that Hancock was coming from a little more...
i highly recommend that , if you find this far fetched, or just in general. it made watching this a lot better.

Why are we so ignorant of our own history? Because people who know have sought to keep it hidden, and to keep those who may reveal the truth are ridiculed into submission. When we can know the truth of our past, we can know much more about who we are, why we're here, and where we came from....the most important questions humanity could ever ask.

I'm very surprised to hear Prof.Wickramasinghe stating that a comet could've caused the ice sheets to melt at the end of the last ice-age. While I am not a scientist in any capacity, I've always read/heard that comet and asteroid impacts cause cooling on a global scale, due to the amount of material ejected into the atmosphere. Have I missed a new discovery? If so and anyone has any information about it, please post a link as a reply to this comment. Thank you.

@Jack1952, Graham states repeatedly that more research needs to be done, and that professional scientists should do it. His only critique of science is that it too often views its interpretations as definitive. I have watched many of his documentaries and he always makes it plainly clear he is a journalist by training, that he believes established science should investigate his findings, and that professionals should do the investigating. I've found him to be most trustworthy and one of the rarest kinds of journalists, interested only in the truth and sharing that truth with anyone that cares to learn it. Of course he makes money at it, he has to eat like the rest of us. I have not found one shred of evidence to support any idea that he misleads people for monetary gain, that alone gives me far more confidence in him than in ANY current news media.

ancient cultures all over the world worshipped all of nature and deified MANY animals... why are the fixated on the serpents? are they trying to imply that civilation was taught to humans by the lizard people? ALSO.... the pyramid structure is the natural shape that sand, dirt, etc creates when it is poured... which could have indicated to primitive people the most natural, stable, and harmonious structure that earthen materials could be shaped into.

:D Sorry. I forget <3
Pentagram is for me the most natural pattern.
Not about religions and occultism like for too many people it is.

WTC7
- 06/03/2011 at 00:02

Yes, really, what's your point? What's wrong with pentagrams? I'm sure you are going to provide some vague explanation related to christian occultism, but beware what you say because there are many people who will show you quickly that it has nothing to do with the christian satan but is a much older and diverse symbol than that :)

Octo Seven
- 06/21/2011 at 03:30

Wow you're a presumptuous a**hole aren't you?

MyReligionIs2DoGood
- 05/30/2011 at 20:18

I find it funny sometimes how people look at theories like the one presented in this documentary and then say 'improbable', 'unlikely', 'not enough evidence', and so on. Applying the same criteria on so-called 'established' theories would make those appear not much better either. Many of those would not survive another week if all the suppressed, ignored, or forgotten evidence would come out tomorrow, like the theory about modern humans existing only about 150,000+ years, the Big Bang theory, or the official story about 9/11, just to name a few.

Looking at the evidence in the many cases of monolithic architecture there are only a few possibilities left how the ancient builders could have accomplished their monumental work.

#1 They had help from 'somewhere else', in the form of extra-terrestrial beings. Countless so-called myths all over the world talk about 'gods' or 'teachers' 'from the heavens', offering their knowledge to mankind.
#2 There was a highly advanced human population here on Earth in a time long before our recorded history. For this theory evidence can also be found all over the world in inscriptions as well as mythologies - besides the buildings themselves, of course.
#3 Both of the above is true.
#4 Thousands of people - may they be slaves or religiously motivated - working with copper/stone/whatever chisels on granite/quartz/limestone, recently emerged from the hunter/gatherer stadium, supposedly not even knowing anything about the wheel or simple mathematics, built all these huge astronomically sophisticated structures that we today couldn't accomplish with all our machinery...

The one theory that doesn't fit to all the evidence is... the one we are all told to be true in school.

This doesn't apply only to archeology - it also applies to cosmology, physics, maths, psychology, and other disciplines. There is no single theory ever made up which wouldn't have been replaced by a better one at some point yet. Thus, they are called theories.

So I would recommend to be very critical about established theories, and keep an open mind to new ideas - they might be correct. Especially when they come up with good evidence like the one in this documentary.

It's fairly easy to ridicule people like Von Däniken, Hancock, Tsoukalos, Cremo, Hoagland, and all the others, but to ridicule the messenger doesn't solve the problem, even if they make/made mistakes here or there. All of them are pathfinders, in the best sense of the word. Instead we should deal with the message in a scientific way, trying to prove - or disprove if we have another opinion. But please, let's come up with real evidence!

Btw, quoting a Wikipedia entry or calling somebody 'a joke' is not an evidence...

You are right about almost everything, we have to consider "extra-terrestrials" the most probable cause because why would they build a temple in Cambodia that resembles the constellation Draco? Why would the Egyptians build pyramids that point to Orion? Why would the Mayans also build structures that point to Venus? Why do the Dogon Tribesmen know about Sirius A and Sirius B thousands of years before conventional History. Notice what history really means, His-Story, whos story you might wonder? The materialistic man's history, anything that tarnishes their image is systematically removed and buried in time, nothing out there is a coincidence, everything happens for a reason or else it wouldn't happen because it wouldn't benefit anybody. The Dogon tribe has the exact same Hierarchy, ritualistic practices, beliefs etc... as the Masonic infrastructures do today, the only difference is that the Masons cloak their teachings, beliefs etc... in a more nicely packaged way then the rather more primitive Dogon Tribe. The Dogon clearly speak that Serpentine Shape-shifting reptoid looking beings taught them all of the teachings about the stars and that these beings live amongst us today but the greater majority live inside of the earth, as we well know that lizards are cold blooded creatures that need a constant balance of temperature within the body, explaining why they would shelter themselves from the savage sun's rays. The Sumerians also speak of extra-terrestrials that came down to earth and genetically engineered us to mine gold for them therefore they could insulate their atmosphere as gold is the best heat conductor known to man. Their first leader was called Draco, an 8 foot tall, albino-white serpentine being that ruled their land. The Babylonians spoke of sea-fearing people that came out of the ocean and their leader was called Dagon. The current pope still wears the head garment that represents the Dagon entity as it's in a shape of a fish's mouth. The mayans spoke of Quetzalcoatl, an entity that came down in a space ship to rule and teach them all of the crafts that they acquired. He is known as the original Winged Serpent. What I'm trying to say is that if these people were able to build such immense archeological structures and feats, and they still stood the test of time today and we clearly see them, why wouldn't we believe what other insights they talked about. We as a civilization are all hypocrites, well at least the status quo is, we only accept, explanations, theories and anything else for the sole purpose that it makes the most sense, it has nothing to do with whats truthful or not. We can't start looking for answers unless we get rid of this stupid notion that we live in this harmonious, beautiful, colorful world that can not be tarnished by anything even on the slightest level that takes exact shots at the bullshit conventional thinking. I laugh at the egotistic garbage that we promote everyday and which the majority by the way never stop and question it, however, when something strikes their nerve that's remotely outside of their comprehension range, they immediately take offense and are quick to negate it without any real proof yet they have the nerve to debunk research done on this high of a level. Truly a LOL, this doc has great insight into what the ancients knew, Hancock presents great material that's based on physical evidence and not on some superstitious prick who's in it for himself in hopes or reaching great stardom. 10/10, with this said, have a nice day XD.

Jack1952
- 07/26/2011 at 19:40

You confuse evidence with the interpretation of evidence. A pyramid does not prove ET's involvement. It just proves that pyramids exist. To prove that ET helped there must be evidence of his presence. So far there has been none. There is, however, a great deal of evidence that there were people involved. This means that all we know for sure is that people built the pyramids. Do you see how conventional wisdom works?

Graham Hancock has brought many new things to the attention of the average person. He is to be applauded for this. However, his theories need more proof. He should be criticized for not saying this. That would be a professional way to investigate new discoveries.

Dan Flynn
- 11/19/2011 at 06:48

Drivel. Nonsense. Get your head checked out.

Jack1952
- 07/26/2011 at 19:26

Evidence is all we have. Without it, it can only be called speculation. Speculation can take you anywhere. Evidence can only take you as far as the evidence allows. As evidence accumulates, so too does our store of knowledge. If our history books were filled with the theories of anyone with new ideas, history would soon be lost in a quagmire of stories and myths. History can only be written with what can be proved. If that history is to grow and change more evidence is needed to do so....not more speculation.

345267
- 05/27/2011 at 07:45

ok...got to the part where the pyramids were not the tombs of the Pharoahs... The ancients were big on astronomy - they were good at it (you know, the magi and those guys), this is a 'duh' observation. REAL antiquarians told us that over a hundred years ago.

However,if there is money in this type of claptrap, maybe I should think up some angle on my own...tempting... Of course, it would be fun to make up "news" for the 'National Inquirer' too.

But you see, your sole life is based on conventional thinking, the ancients always taught that you should fully hear what's being presented even if you agree or disagreed with it, first you listen, after you've completely listened or viewed then and ONLY then can you formulate you own opinion that would have more backbone then your pathetic little reasoning posted above. You negate something simply because it's not what you were taught in school, exactly, you were taught that in school for a reason, your soul's comprehension capacity cannot hold a lid on this sort of notion and information, almost as if you are not meant to understand, its the creator trying to tell you something. Who are you in this whole world of ours to be insulted by some forbidden knowledge? You are a nobody as I am, but I damn sure know that I know more at my current age of 23 then you will ever be able to accumulate throughout not one lifetime, but many others to come. Let me guess, your first instinct will be to insult me in some form or another because I am forming a resistance to your half ass conventional "wisdom". If so, good luck with it, see who else cares dweeb.

Jack1952
- 07/26/2011 at 19:43

"formulate your own opinion". Opinions have nothing to do with this. It is either true or it isn't. Truth is found through hard evidence and deductive reasoning. Opinions mean absolutely nothing.

Dan Flynn
- 11/19/2011 at 06:48

Unadulterated drivel.

Fake Name
- 08/07/2011 at 04:51

I believe in free speech and do not attack your right to make such comments. I only question the validity to the purpose of this site, which is to expand peoples knowledge. Did your comment contribute to that purpose? I propose it did not. If I missed something please correct me. It is very easy to go along with what you are told, and much harder to try and find the truth for yourself, I believe this website helps people to find out the truth for themselves, so please don't repeat the "party line" here, we all know it well and come here searching for new information not the same old "claptrap" we get on the "news".

All I can say is wow!!!
I'm a big fan of Graham Hankcock. His work seems sometimes to be far fetched but when looked upon closer all start to makes sense. One of his best and famous books I read is " LORDS OF POVERTY: the power, prestige, and corruption of the international aid business " This book was before he started writing his mystery or facts books. Another famous author who does similar work is Robert Bauval. I recently read the "Orion Mystery" and that to is a master piece.
I am still waiting for "Black Genesis" which deals with the Napta Playa Complex (Astronomical Observatory) in Southern Egypt as well as the migrations of Africans from Chad, Ancient Libya and Nubia to ancient Egypt (KMT).
Graham Hancock & Robert Bauval have co-authored "Keeper of Genesis: a quest for the hidden legacy of mankind"

Oh my god I LOVE Graham Hancock!!!! There are some lectures from him and his partner on an old show called paranormal tv (the only thing good I have ever seen on that show). I have not watched this vid yet but this man is Brilliant! I can't wait. Watch this video I am sure it is great!

Without 'what if's' and 'I believe's' we are all just swallowing the pill and believing what we are told. I hope for archaeology's sake that J works with someone who dares to ask 'What if". Also beware of institutions that promote the cultivation of fear and ridicule of asking questions.

Interesting stuff but improbable. His links are tenuous at best and there could other explanations for the similarities in some of these ancient structures. Hancock would have better used his resources in studying those submerged structures (building?) than to have gone off globe trotting. If he could prove they were man made he would have given his overall theories the plausibility that this documentary needed.

Graham Hancock is a joke. I had a course that deals with people like him and Von Daniken, and Childress... They are great at making money by telling exaggerated 'what ifs' of history which is largely in the realm of pseudoscience. I feel bad for all the people who believe this at face value with all his 'what ifs' and 'I believe' statements... he got your money, what he set out to do in the first place /facepalm. You wonder why these shows exist, because there is no open forum such as a academic journal which critically analysis major flaws in such research, of which the psuedo's cannot accept, thus going against the scientific method, making them modern day 'snake oil' salesman. I used to believe him and the others like him until I started to critically think about some of the stuff they were saying and investigating on my own, its why I started to become an archaeologist in the first place. My suggestion is research your own, and avoid the salesman.

ive just come across this documentary and i have to say im someone stunned by the possibility and find the argument in the terms hancock uses quite convincing. however i am an atheist and a cynic and tend to run a mile from any theory involving aliens or other godlike agency placing us here. so i sort of dont like feeling convinced about this.
you say you have made your own investigations into the matter. i would be curious to know precisley why this theory is a joke as to just be told that and accept it would be equally dumb. i am ready and sort of want to be dissabused of this notion.
so point by point could you explain why this cannot be true? preferably using hard scientific evidence and sources. what evidence do you have that renders hancocks arguments untenable.
i really am not about to defend him, i just want to know both sides of the argument, having had a long standing amatuer interest in archaeology and ancient history.

PS i havent parted with any money to come across theese theories, ive simply watched online for free.

thanks

Mychal
- 01/05/2011 at 23:37

Would it not be great to have scientists who have more than one discipline then they could look to solve a problem for all angles. Even lawyers use as many witnesses as possible!

I truly tthink we have been technologically advanced for a long time.

Humans are not stupid, look at what we have accomplished in a few hundred years. Why wont this translate to the before times?

There is so much we don't know and to think that one theory is the only theory will stagnant us but of when egos are in play!

In a word brilliant! How can we be so sure that what we are told in this doc is true? Well we cannot. However, this does provoke more questions than answers and I for one think some of Mr Hancock's theories seem very plausible. Do we know everything? No. After all it wasn't long ago we thought the world was flat. History tells us every time a new theory is put out there it seems to get ridicule. Only time and more research will tell.

this doc is great, i honestly didnt expect it to be this good. It is rather suprising that modern people underestimate the ancients. The size of the brain and intelectual ability has not changed in the last 50,000 years. if you bring a human from 40,000 years ago to the modern world if they are young enough would learn our advancements perfectly, they would even be chip designers, so in my opinion it is not so much a stretch that the sphinx could be more than 10,000 years old or even their buildings were designed acording to the stars, i really hate how some people(experts) are closed minded, the only difference between me and an ancient egyptian is that i have the benefit of having a lot of knowledge acumulated for 10,000(who knows they might have had a lot of accumulated info from 10k years before them) more years than them and i dont have to be a priest to have access to it. anyway i gotta get back and watch part 2.

Firstly, Tom wonders where the archaeology for this is. Apart from the structures which Mr Hancock gives a plausible justification for being older than we had previously thought, I would suggest mostly about 300m below sea level... Were you not watching the documentary?
Secondly, the fossil record tells us that Homo Sapiens has been largely unchanged for the last 100,000 years or so, but the established theory is that civilisation has been around for only about 5000 years. I simply cannot believe that our species sat around for 95,000 years (yes, 95% of our time on this planet...) before thinking of things like agriculture... That seems far more unlikely to me than the idea that there have been cultures we are ignorant of in our arrogance.
Very interesting documentary!

very Very interesting. Humans just like us have existed for thousands of years I always thought that it was strange that it took them so long to develop, I think its very arrogant of us to think that we were the first to discover it all.
also in the last few years, as I get older I understand how much of what we are taught is subjective and is controlled by what our governments,religions and society want us to know and think and I guess I will never know the truth (even though I wish I could) but it is important for me to keep an open mind cause very few things that we know in this world are actually "carved in stone".

@Reality, what you are describing is what most scientists do (the real ones anyway). They observe something, they postulate what they think it might be and then attempt to find out if they are right or wrong. That IS science regardless of whether there is unanimous opinion from the scientific community or not. Speaking of the scientific community, I am from Australia and it's not all that long ago that the scientific community was outraged at the notion of the platypus. It is what it is. I have not seen anything different here and I found the theories to be logical and simple; it's the overly complex ones I scrutinize.

reality....why do you have more credibility than the film makers? trust YOU? lol you ask who made this, and answer that they are a nobody. well basicly, by that standard, you are too, and so am i. so were all even. worry about forming your OWN opinion and not other peoples.

i don't necessarily agree with all that he says.
but it reveals that many archeological sites need to be accounted for.
but as all break-throughs, you don't necessarily get the whole picture the very first time. they just tell you there is something interesting here and we need more investigations here.
i do think the author jumps to conclusion too fast but he has some good reasons to suggest that human history could be older than 5ooo years, i agree.

what this can teach us? i'm not sure yet. but it could be very interesting.

Why is it that the only people that ever seem interested in these ideas or take the time to post an opinion have the worst grammar I have ever seen.

It is because there are not any americans or brits, for the most part, that care about this stuff. That fact is truly astonishing and discouraging.

I really just want to say that I have been waiting my whole life for a lesson like this. The kicker is that it is obvious that there is a deep and unknown prehistory but whats the difference really. It changes nothing because we are still ruled and controlled by greed, vanity and indifference.

The most important idea to take away from this film is that every tradition and religion you know of is made up and not worth a damn.

Here in Germany many people are interested in all of these topics, they just don't find it necessary to give their 2 cents to every post. Instead, they are researching on their own to build their opinion.

Besides that, I agree completely with what you said.

PS: I hope my grammar satisfied you... ;)

Reality
- 12/23/2009 at 01:47

Its entertianing. Like all other docs of this category. The truth is that the widers schientific community does not endorse most of the conclusion this and other guys make (its easy to make a documentary today). Listen carefully as he says "I think.." " I belive that this or that means..". He picks few researches done by credible acedims and makes his own doc. By the way - who is this guy who made the doc?

Thanks Mr. Vlatko! I’ve watched many of the documentaries in your site and I can say that this is my #1 so far. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! THOUSANDS (even millions) OF PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD LOVES YOUR SITE!